Emphasis :The centre of interest

by Tissa Hewavitarane

Probably no painter ever guided the viewer's eye in his work better than Rembrandt. You are absolutely compelled to go where he wants you to go.

All paintings should attempt to do the same thing - guide the viewer to the key part of the work. And that point is the centre of interest, the point of emphasis.

Life's struggle

The important place (a person, tree, apple, eye, light or whatever else) can be emphasised in several ways. It can be the flower among leaves or the boat in a quiet lake. The centre of interest can also be stressed by simply making it different - a texture against something smooth, a clown in a crowd, a house in the landscape or a cactus in the desert.

Our eyes are drawn to the different and distinctive item. Eyes can also be led to the bottom of the painting moved over foreground objects and brought to rest on some distant item such as a house, tree, hill or the sun.

Movement to the centre of interest can be directed by trees, fence posts or brushstrokes, lines and progression of colours or values.

Looking at many paintings done by various artists it is easy to find the centre of interest in most of them, but it is more fun to see how the artist helped you find it. Most paintings have a single point of interest with several points that share equal building. If you are stressing the unity in a landscape (how it all goes together) you might not want to have a single point of interest.

Paintings don't have to have a centre of interest, but most of them do. It is one way to unify the painting and give purpose to its design. To capture and hold the attention of your viewer, try to design rhythmic lines. The eye is always drawn to human figures in a landscape and their inclusion can turn an ordinary subject into a striking picture.

Here the two figures (fishermen) pulling the rope from the anchoring point for the whole composition. It guides the viewer's eye through the picture towards the focal point.

The two huts is placed just off centre at a distance thus creating balance without boredom. You must choose your view-point carefully and be prepared to alter arrangement of things if necessary in the interest of making a more balanced and a coherent image.

The impression of depth is much greater with fishing boats at a distance. The whole picture is beautifully designed to guide the eye on how to make your painting more exciting and dynamic.